I think I'd agree with the author of the second article and go with whatever Allen Walker Read said. I read Read a few times in college, Lo these many years ago, in the one linguistics course I took. He had a talent for clear, understandable writing, even in an academic journal.

Regards//Larry

"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them." -- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee

OK originated with Andrew Jackson. When, as clerk of the Tenn. Legis. He would verify the minutes of the meetings by entering " Oll Korect" Meaning "All Correct". Later on he shortened it to OK. Don't knock it. After all, he did become President. And don't forget "A OK".

Oh, look. The dictionary has something for everyone...whether you like the "shouty majesules" or not.

Says all seem acceptable: OK, O.K. o-kay be it adj., adv., noun, or v.t.. yes it says it in Radom House Webster's Dictionary: initials of oll korrect, the facetious spelling of "all correct".
If it was intended as facetious, how then does it become a part of our language?
Which leads me to a question of my own...

How DOES slang or colloquial become an approved part of the English language?

Unmentioned until now is the old Okeh record label. OkeH (1918-1970) was a prime purveyor of blues, jugband and general black artist rosters, from the first-ever-published vocal blues disc by one Mamie Smith down to Screamin' Jay Hawkins and beyond.

I used to assume "okeh" was a variant for "okay" used at the time but a bit of research reveals that it's cased* as OKeH or OKEH for Otto K.E. Heinemann, and left to resemble "okay" as a pun and trompe-l'oeil (*but not always- see images link above). Furtherly interesting, it's thought that Heinemann partially based the label's name on the Choctaw word derivation referenced in Cecil Adams' faux etymologies linked earlier by Apoclima - an Indian head even appears within the original logo, indicating the Choctaw origin idea must have been extant at the time of its origin in 1918.

(That said, I can't put much stock in Cecil Adams' conclusions/rants on this or any other topic- if the world were as cut-and-dried as he seems to think, we could all close the internet and go home.)

Our jug band shamelessly plaigiarised the logo for our own circular promotional stickers to hand out at public events (sorry, no image), spelled "Okey" as a parody (and not to be confused with Okie, the affectionately-derogatory term used by Southern Californians for outlanders). Only a few of these stickers must still exist and presumably sell to collectors for near-pennies.

sluggo wrote:I never thought Martin van Buren was all that popular anyway.

An interesting and entertaining commentary on alternative spellings and etymologies. You might consider switching presidential reverence to Andrew Jackson, credited with "It's a damn poor mind that can think of only one way to spell a word."
-gailr